Hit and Run (Hot-Lanta #4)

  “If all the guys put in an effort like you, we might just win the World Series.”

  “They are,” Brady confirmed, sticking up for his men. “This is our year, Coach. I have no doubt about that.”

  Deek looked around the locker room at the roster they had put together and nodded his agreement. He was a man of few words, but when he had them, he sure as hell let you know what he was thinking.

  “Why don’t you just let him jack you off?” Parker asked, his locker next to Brady’s.

  “Jealous there, Kirby?” Brady asked, using Parker’s nickname.

  “Yes, so jealous. Please let Deek jack me off,” Parker dead panned.

  “Parker!” Deek’s voice called from his office. “Meet me early tomorrow morning for sprints.”

  The entire locker room erupted in laughter. “Looks like you’re going to get some nice personal time with him tomorrow, anyway,” Brady teased.

  Parker smirked just before he put his shirt on. “Fuck off, man.”

  Brady sat down at his locker and pulled out his phone, hoping to see a text from Jane, but when he woke up the screen, he noticed, once again, there was no communication from his wife. He would rectify that. If she listened to what he said the other night, then she would be texting him back.

  He went with something simple to begin with…

  Brady: Hey Pip-squeak. How was your day?

  Brady put his shirt and underwear on while he waited for a response from Jane.

  “Fuck, I’m tired,” Austin flopped down on a chair that was in front of his locker. “You would think shoving a fake boob in a baby’s mouth would quiet it down.”

  “Fake boob?” Brady asked, feeling for his teammate who was trying to raise an infant with his least favorite person, and going through spring training at the same time.

  “You know,” Austin said, gesturing to his chest.

  “I really don’t. Enlighten me.”

  Sighing, Austin sat up. “It’s a contraption you attach to yourself so you can ‘breastfeed’,” Austin used air quotes. “Dads use it all the time to get a better connection with the baby.”

  “Hold up,” Parker said, engaging in the conversation. “You’re telling me you use a fake boob and act like you’re breastfeeding your son?”

  “Yeah,” Austin shrugged. “Connor doesn’t use it. Thinks it’s wrong, but honestly, I think the reason why Leonard is so mad is because he has nipple confusion. I read about it. Does he suck on the fake tit or the bottle? Shit, I would be confused too. Connor refuses to even consider using the boob, but I think if he did, Leonard would be a happier boy.”

  “Dude, that’s wrong,” Parker shook his head and laughed.

  Brady’s phone beeped, letting him know he’d received a text message. Ignoring the fake boob conversation, he looked at his phone.

  Jane: Fine

  Brady tried not to get frustrated from her one-word answer.

  Brady: You’re going to have to do better than that, babe. One-word answers won’t suffice. So, tell me how your day was.

  “Have you ever tried it?” Austin now stood, talking to the locker room. “That’s what I thought, so don’t judge me when I say we buy breast milk. Breast milk is by far superior to formula. It tastes better and is better for the baby. And it’s not like I’m producing any, so of course I have to buy it. We do use formula as well, but only on occasions when we’re out of breast milk.”

  What the hell did Brady miss?

  “Keep using the fake tit and you might just start producing milk,” Parker joked.

  “Hey, dipshit, cut the comedy and try spending more time in the cages. You might be able to actually make contact instead of striking out like you did all day,” Austin shot back.

  “I forgot my contacts,” Parker defended.

  “You don’t wear contacts,” Brady pointed out as his phone beeped.

  Jane: Fine. Ate food, planned events, and went to the bathroom.

  Cheeky woman.

  Brady: What are you wearing?

  Jane: Clothes

  Brady: What kind of clothes?

  Jane: Cotton ones.

  Brady: Fine, what did you eat? Don’t say food…

  Jane: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  Brady: Why are you being difficult? I just want to talk to you and you’re making it near impossible.

  Brady could feel his frustration start to boil over from Jane’s reluctance to share.

  “No, not like that,” Austin called out, shoving Parker to the side. “Give me that. The way to swaddle is by doing opposite corners.”

  Austin had his jersey on the ground with a baseball mitt in the middle. Several of their teammates hovered over him as he horribly taught them how to swaddle a glove with a baseball shirt. The struggle was real with Austin, and even though he was a cocky bastard, you could tell by the rolled up baseball shirt, he had no clue what he was doing.

  But it was the trying that mattered; Brady had to give him that. He was impressed with the way Austin finally pulled his head out of his ass and stepped up to help raise his baby. It wasn’t the most conservative way of raising a baby, but at least he was trying.

  Brady’s phone beeped again.

  Jane: Why are you being difficult? I told you this is not what I want.

  Brady ran his hand down his face, trying not to throw his phone against the wall. He was going to have to call her, and there was no way he would do it in front of all his men. So, he pulled on a pair of pants, put on his shoes, and grabbed his wallet; it was time to leave.

  “See, just like that,” Austin held the rolled up glove in the air for all to see. “Who wants to try it? Any takers?” All the guys stood back. “Best swaddler gets a beer on me.”

  “Two beers,” Parker countered before any of the guys volunteered.

  Austin conceded. “Fine, two beers.”

  Their teammates lined up to show their swaddling skills. If Brady wasn’t pre-occupied with Jane and still raw from losing his daughter, he would put all his guys to shame. Before Jane lost the baby, he would practice his swaddling and diapering skills religiously. It was his mission to be the best dad ever…

  Swallowing hard, he grabbed his keys and took off toward the player parking lot. Once he was in his car, he plugged in Jane’s phone number and called her. The phone rang over his car speakers, connecting with the car blue tooth.

  “Hello?” Jane’s sweet voice filled the car, easing some of the tension in Brady’s chest.

  “Hi, Jane,” Brady could feel the distress in his voice when talking to her, like he thought if he wasn’t careful enough, she would disappear.

  “Brady, why are you calling?”

  “Wanted to talk to you, hear your voice,” Brady said, pulling out of the parking lot onto the main road. “I’m glad you answered the phone.”

  “You threatened me if I didn’t.”

  There was a little lightness in her voice that made Brady chuckle. “Yes, you’ve got that right. I’m glad you listened. Now if only we could fix your texting.”

  “There is nothing wrong with my texting.”

  “Really?” Brady asked. “I remember when your texts contained explicit descriptions of what you wanted to do to my body.”

  “Those days are in the past,” Jane sighed.

  Frustrated once again, Brady asked, “Why?”

  “Do we really have to go over this again?”

  They didn’t. Brady didn’t want a reminder, so instead, he decided to reminisce, remind Jane of what they used to have.

  “Remember our first date?”

  “Yes…” Jane answered, breathlessly.

  “What do you remember about it?” Brady switched lanes, making sure to pay attention to the road and not get too lost in memories.

  “I remember being really nervous. I also remember getting lost in the skee-ball game against Michael, so I didn’t have to look at you.”

  “Ouch,” Brady laughed.

  “You know what I mean. You i
ntimidated me, Brady.” She paused for a second and said, “You still do.”

  “How can you say that, Jane? I’ve wanted nothing but you ever since I saw you at Deuces. Haven’t I shown you that? If not, then I guess I haven’t been doing my job.” Jane didn’t answer him, so Brady pushed on. “Did you get your delivery?”

  “I did. Thank you.”

  “I only get a thank you? No fawning? No, ‘Oh Brady, you’re an absolute dream?’”

  “Have I ever said that?” she said with a laugh.

  “No, but people change.”

  “They sure do.”

  Not liking the tone in her voice, he went back to the present talk. “Do you know how long it took me to make that?”

  “Two hours?”

  “Try two days!” Brady stated.

  Wanting to help Jane remember, Brady had made a mini album of him and Jane over the years. He tried to make some scrapbook pages from items Parker helped him pick out, but it ended up looking like a child made it, so he ditched the scrapbook pages and stuck with just photos…and maybe a few baseball stickers here and there because they were cool.

  “What were you doing for two days?” Jane laughed.

  “Hey are you knocking my arts and crafts work?” Brady pulled into his apartment complex, switched his conversation with Jane to his phone, and walked up to his place.

  “I expected more from you, Brady Matthews, especially with the type of ego you have. It’s very nice, though, thank you.”

  Brady beamed. “My ego is good for one thing and one thing only, playing baseball.”

  “So, you’re telling me you don’t use your ego in the bedroom?”

  Liking her train of thought, Brady answered, “No, I use my dick.”

  “Brady,” Jane laughed. He imagined her blushing and shaking that beautiful head of hers at him.

  “What? Oh sorry. I use my dick, my fingers, and my tongue. Last I remember, you really liked it when I used my tongue.” He was smiling ear to ear while opening his apartment door.

  For a brief moment, he wished Jane was on the other side of the door, waiting for him, ready to make up, but when he walked into a cold and empty apartment, he knew that was his imagination talking. If she was there, though, it would have made his fucking day.

  “Tell me, baby, are you at our house?”

  Jane was silent for a second, but then said, “Yes. You were right, none of my friends would let me into their houses. Not even Molly, she is a traitor.”

  “Molly is dealing with her own issues right now,” Brady reminded Jane. “How are they doing, by the way?”

  “Luke is still having a hard time opening up to Molly. She was saying it’s a daily struggle, but is hoping to make some kind of headway soon. Apparently, Luke took his friend Nash to therapy with him. Molly is thinking that maybe Nash and Luke can help each other through therapy, because right now, the therapist has only gotten through to Luke so much; he’s at a road bump. He needs something else to push him.”

  He hated to hear about Luke and Molly’s hardships, but he loved that Jane was actually talking to him. If he had to talk about Luke and Molly just to hear Jane’s voice, then he would.

  He settled into his couch, a cold beer in his hand, and Jane’s voice in his ear.

  “Hopefully that works out for him. I would love to see Luke find a healthy mental state. I miss him.”

  “Sometimes I forget how close you two were.”

  Brady obviously met Luke through Jane and Molly, but once he did, he couldn’t help but love the guy. Before he went missing, he was fun-loving and a good time. Since he came back, Brady barely saw him, and when he did, Luke was reserved. He didn’t speak much.

  “Yeah.” Changing the subject, Brady asked, “Since it’s Friday and we are not on a date, you owe me.”

  Brady couldn’t get the Friday night available from practice for them to have a date, but that was okay because he had plans.

  “I don’t owe you,” she chuckled.

  “You do. Did you see the last page of the book?”

  “Yeah. It’s a picture of us at spring training.”

  “Exactly, there is a ticket for you to fly out here this weekend in the pocket. And before you tell me no and start making excuses, I already cleared your schedule with Albert, and guess what? Marc and Patty will be coming with you, so there is no possible way you can miss your flight.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “It’s a great idea, actually. Patty and Marc will be at your place in the morning to pick you up. I will see you tomorrow, babe. I love you.”

  Brady hung up the phone so she couldn’t protest. He had an exhibition game in the afternoon, which he was able to easily acquire tickets for, and then afterwards, he would be spending some much needed time with Jane, despite her protests.

  **Molly**

  “Did you have anything to do with this?” Jane asked, when she hung up the phone after talking to Brady. Molly had the luck of listening to the world’s most awkward conversation from Jane’s end. She felt bad for Brady; Jane was being a real dipshit, but that was Molly’s opinion. She couldn’t imagine what might actually be going on in Jane’s head.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Molly feigned innocence.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t care.” Molly smiled. “It was nice that he asked about Luke.”

  “Yeah, he cares about him. Remember the little bro-mance they used to have?”

  Remembering the past, Molly said, “Things were so much easier back then. They were less complicated, which is crazy, because Brady had some crazy ex-girlfriend trying to exploit him and my biggest concern in life was my parents not being at my wedding. I would give anything to go back to those days.”

  “Me too,” Jane sighed, but then laughed. “And we thought things were rough then.”

  “Right?” Molly chuckled with Jane. “Oh, what little did we know. When was the last time we went to Deuces?”

  “Before I was pregnant.” Jane cringed the minute the words slipped out of her mouth.

  Molly pulled Jane into a hug. “It helps to talk about it, Janey Bear. You can’t hold it all inside. Let’s just get it out in the open. You were pregnant, you were a beautiful pregnant woman, and on one disastrous day, you lost your baby…”

  “Stop,” Jane said, pushing away.

  “Jane, you have to talk about it. You’re going to eat yourself alive if you don’t.”

  “I don’t have to do anything, actually.” Jane looked at her watch. “I think it’s time you leave.”

  Yeah, Molly wasn’t going to let Jane push her around like that. She never had and she wouldn’t start now just to spare her feelings. Jane needed some tough love, and Molly was ready to deliver it to her.

  “I’m not going anywhere. You’re ruining your life, Jane. When I was at my lowest, you didn’t let me sulk in my apartment alone. No, you were a pestering nag with nothing better to do than flick my forehead, asking me to put the bottle down and take care of my daughter.”

  “This is different.”

  “It really isn’t,” Molly countered. “You lost something that was so precious to you, something you wanted terribly. I lost Luke, the love of my fucking life, Jane. We both lost things we held close to our hearts.”

  “But you got to spend time with Luke before you thought he died. I didn’t have any time with my baby,” Jane cried.

  Taking it a little easier, Molly treaded carefully with her words. “Yes, I spent time with Luke before I lost him, Jane. I got to experience who he was and how he made me feel, and you know what, it made losing him that much harder. I’m not saying that your loss is in any way lesser than mine, I’m just saying I know what it’s like to lose someone and then lose yourself. I don’t want to see that happen to you, not when you have a man like Brady begging to be a part of your life again. He loves you, Jane. He would climb a fucking mountain for you, take a bullet to his chest for you, why
don’t you see that?”

  “I do!” Jane shouted, anger spouting from her. “I know how much he cares for me, how much he loves me. That’s what makes me want to give him more.”

  “What are you talking about?” Molly asked, confused.

  Jane paused and rested her head in her hands. “I went and saw Dr. Cuevas, Molly. I have a severe case of endometriosis.”

  “What does that mean?” Molly said, shocked by the news.

  “I probably won’t ever be able to have a baby. It was the reason why I lost our little girl. I have too much tissue build up. Dr. Cuevas said my chances of getting pregnant and carrying the baby full term are within the one percent range.”

  Molly sat down on the couch, stunned at Jane’s admission. “Does Brady know?”

  “No.” Jane sat next to her. “And I don’t want him to know. That’s why he deserves better, Molly. He needs to be with someone who can make him the father he wants to be.”

  “Jane, don’t be ridiculous; you can get a surrogate. You can adopt.”

  “I can’t watch someone else carry my baby. That would be too heartbreaking, especially after everything I went through.”

  “Then adopt.”

  “I don’t know if Brady wants to adopt. He always talked about raising kids of his own, a mini Brady Matthews.”

  “So, you don’t even know how he feels about the situation and you’re going to push him out of your life? That’s not fair to him, Jane. You have to give him a chance to tell you how he feels.”

  “He would just pity me and tell me everything would be okay. Then later on, when we couldn’t have our own baby, I know he would resent me.”

  “Wow, you paint Brady in such a beautiful light. We’re talking about the same man, right? The one who will do anything for his Special Olympic athletes? The man who absolutely adores Winnie and stepped up in the father role when Luke wasn’t around? The man who cared for a handicapped man until his dying day? Brady deserves to get more credit from you.” Molly could feel her pulse race. How could Jane think so poorly of Brady when he was one of the best men Molly had ever met?